Directly elected mayor makes sense for Manalapan residents

I am one of the many who have gone door to door to get signatures for the (Manal-apan change of government) petition. I am a firm believer that having a mayor directly elected by the people is preferable.

Having three members from one party, the party in power, sit in a back room and decide who will be mayor is old-time politics.

Think about it. In December, before the newly elected Township Committee people are sworn in, the decision of who will be Manalapan's next mayor will be made.

In most cases, the person chosen is the one running for re-election. This is done so they can campaign as "Re-elect the Mayor" even though you never vote for them to be the "mayor." The harm to the township is the one year that someone is mayor they will be spending most of their time campaigning.

In the next few years the future of the recreation center will be debated and built. By the time it is finished, we will have had many mayors each concentrating on the "votes" they can get if they favor one group over another.

I like this change of government making the election cycle every other year. Think about it. How about having a year off from hundreds of campaign signs around the neighborhood? How about no campaign ads giving the appearance that nothing is good in our town?

I get tired of every year starting out with local campaigns being the No. 1 focus of both political parties. How about a year of just doing something good for our town?

I expected to get a mixed reaction when asking people to sign the petition.

In my district, my wife and I collected 350-plus signatures. We found 95 percent of those people, whose doors we knocked on, did sign the petition. This brings up an interesting question. Aren't elected officials supposed to be representatives to do the will of their constituents? Then why oppose what the people truly want?

If the number of signatures needed to place this petition on a ballot is not reached, the reasons will be many. Those few who didn't sign would not let us talk to their family members to see if they would be interested.

We can't get the registered voters who are college students because they are at college. Amazingly, dozens upon dozens of registered voters in our district have moved or have passed away. We can't get their signatures either.

It would be a shame if the will of the people is not done for these reasons.

Steven Johnson

Manalapan